Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Ten Years Ago December 9, 2010 No one seems to know exactly how tall the Northwest Grain Growers elevator in Dixie is, but even those who work there say it’s no higher than 130 feet. Inland Cellular is set to build a 180-foot cell phone tower at 9970 East Highway 12 near the elevator this spring and is seeking public comment on its proposal under the National Preservation Act of 1966. Waitsburg first responders helped a middle-aged Walla Walla man into an ambulance after he crashed his car into the guideline of a utility pole near the Laht N...
Ten Years Ago December 2, 2010 Valley Girls Barrel Racing members, from left: Rosie Gallaher, Kelli Currin, Josilyn Fullerton, Sidney Andrews, Kyla Connell, Shayla Currin, Emily Adams, and Ellie Johnson Twenty-Five Years Ago December 7, 1995 Waitsburg's annual Hometown Christmas celebration, including the lighted parade on Main Street, is Sunday. Dec. 10. This is the 10th year for the popular event sponsored by the Waitsburg Commercial Club. It is the fifth year for the lighted parade....
Ten Years Ago November 25, 2010 This week’s early snow indicates the beginning of a cold season that could be a great year for Ski Bluewood, but disastrous for a Touchet Valley vulnerable to flooding from the Touchet and Coppei rivers. Daniel Huwe has just about exhausted his options. The 31-year-old man was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault by jury trial in Dayton in 2007. He was sentenced to 468 months, or 39 years, in prison and has repeatedly appealed. About 425 people attended the year’s Turkey Bingo at the Day...
Ten Years Ago November 18, 2010 Less than a month after Ski Bluewood was rescued for local winter recreation, a much-beloved summer spot in the area appears to be in jeopardy. During the past several weeks, the operator and leaseholders of Lyons Ferry Park on the Snake River have all given notice to terminate their respective agreements, saying they can no longer afford to subsidize the money-losing facility. Nine Valley players make All League: Bickelhaupt, Sunderland, Armstrong, Zack Bartlow, Brock, Dady, Jeff Bartlow, Brannock and Hofer. Dog...
Ten Years Ago November 11, 2010 My husband’s grandfather, Dr. Rufus Butler, was a “horse and buggy doctor” in Waitsburg for 39 years. According to an article in the Times’ in 1950, he was one of the last settlers to recall log cabins, hardships, and pioneer love of the Northwest. Columbia REA, Pastor Steve Edwards, Theater Manager Reid Helford and Singer Cougar Henderson were winners of this year’s Community Awards given out at the Dayton Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Banquet. They won their recognition for Business of the Year, Citizen of...
Ten Years Ago November 4, 2010 With 60 percent of the vote counted Tuesday evening, Walla Walla County Sheriff’s candidate John Turner was well on his way to victory over Bill White. Army Private Ryan W. Timms, a 2010 Waitsburg High School grad, has graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia. Hosted by music director Brad Green of Waitsburg, regional Mass Band drew student musicians and directors from 12 schools, including two flute soloists from Dayton and Waitsburg. [Photo caption] Brian Graham paints on the b...
Ten Years Ago October 28, 2010 Former resident Jason J. Lujan, 30, will return to his home in the 100 block of Murphy Street, Waitsburg, after being released from police custody on Nov. 14. Lujan is a registered, level III sex offender currently under Department of Corrections supervision. To better serve its readers and advertisers in Columbia County, The Times has opened an office half a block from Main Street behind Manila Bay Cafe next to the courthouse in Dayton. The Waitsburg Historical...
Ten Years Ago September 23, 2010 People want to know what Jan Cronkhite will do now that she’s retired from her post of 32 years as director of the Weller Public Library on Main Street in downtown Waitsburg. “I don’t have any plans,” the longtime resident said Monday. “The WP high school volleyball coaches have been suspended for the remainder of the season,” Waitsburg Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke and Prescott Superintendent Dr. Bill Jordan said in a prepared statement. The coaching staff was suspended pending an investigation into allega...
Ten Years Ago October 14, 2010 [Headline] Ski Bluewood Under Contract, Expected to Open This Season Sometime around 11:30 last Saturday night, someone uncoupled Union Pacific car # BF-100-48, removed the chocks from its front wheel, and force-snapped the padlocked cable tether to release the brake. “If any motorist had crossed the tracks, they would have been taken out,” Sheriff Walt Hessler said. [Photo credit] Open for business: area invitees enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks during the grand opening of Waitsburg Business center on Prest...
Ten Years Ago October 7, 2010 Shortly before midnight Tuesday, an empty boxcar broke free on the main rail line in Dayton and made a freak, high-speed getaway, waking residents throughout the Touchet Valley and eluding sheriff’s deputies before it finally slowed enough to be secured just past Prescott. A wave of burglaries has hit Walla Walla, Columbia, and Garfield counties in the past few months, prompting some local law enforcement officials and citizens groups to get better organized. The Dayton Farmers Market on the lawn in front of the S...
Ten Years Ago September 30, 2010 [Photo caption] Daytonite Doug Krueger at his ranch with his mules Kate and Belle. The mule enthusiast has participated in team roping contests at the Hell’s Canyon Mule Days in Enterprise, Ore., and was instrumental in introducing the owners of Coyote Mule Company Dayton’s attribute as an event venue. Twenty-Five Years Ago October 5, 1995 The Columbia County Regional Health Foundations, a non-profit charitable corporation based in Dayton, recently announced a $...
Ten Years Ago September 23, 2010 [Photo caption] Dog handler Ann Moser from Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue and her Giant Schnauzer Watson examine Bob Bulota's cabin in Starbuck for scents. [Photo caption] Cycle Oregon brought 2,250 cyclists to Waitsburg last week. Most of them camped, dined, showered, and nurtured their equipment at the city's fairgrounds. Resembling a modern version of a Roman encampment, the gathering was by far one of the largest in the town's history, easily tripling the...
Ten Years Ago September 16, 2010 [Photo caption] Bill and Jan Zuger at one of the historic buildings on his grandfather’s homestead off Highway 124 near Bolles Road. The land is now farmed by Bill’s son, Greg. [Photo caption] Pacific Power Regional Community Manager Bill Clemens hands over a check for $1,000 to Loyal Baker, president of the Ye Towne Hall board in Waitsburg. The grant will allow the board to buy custom-made, insulated, and updated doors for the 1928 building in downtown Waitsburg. You’re invited to the rededication cerem...
Ten Years Ago September 9, 2010 Last Classroom Speech: Recently retired elementary school teacher Pam Conover reaches for the microphone to thank those who came for her retirement reception on Aug. 29 at Waitsburg’s Multipurpose Room. Conover served the district as an educator for 35 years. [Photo caption] Races in the annual Tour of Walla Walla event enter Main Street via Bolles Road, After five years of hosting the tour, Waitsburg has built a reputation as a bike-friendly town. Twenty-Five Y...
Ten Years Ago September 22, 2011 It was a day of Victorian fashion, museum tours, buffalo, corn on the cob, and Butlers at Waitsburg’s Fall Festival on Sunday. The attendance was anything but sparse. Bill Thompson was a good friend. I share that distinction with scores of folks in this community and extending the population to Palouse. He died September 17, 2011, in Waitsburg. He was 81 years old. Nancy Metro has been recently hired by the Walla Walla Catholic Schools in the new position of director of admissions and community relations. [...
Ten Years Ago September 15, 2011 [Headline] Daytonites: You Own It, You Fix It. Council wants households to pay for “side sewer” repairs. Waitsburg resident Jane Butler, age 90, has deep family roots in the Touchet Valley through her husband, Bob. Butler has lived in town for about 50 years, non-consecutively, and is being honored for her family history with the Pioneer of the Year award from the Waitsburg Historical Society. “I feel honored,” Butler said of the award. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Kovach of Bellevue, Wash. and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Be...
Ten Years Ago September 8, 2011 This year’s Columbia County Fair will be held September 9-11 will bring new entertainment, more education, bull bash, and beer garden that will surely delight fairgoers. I was behind the counter at the Coppei Coffee shop last week when he walked in. He donned a well-worn canvas hat, a big backpack, and two sticks that looked like ski poles. With all that gear on, the diminutive elderly man stepped right up to the cash register and made his inquiry. [Photo caption] Between Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Deputy Ger...
Ten Years Ago September 1, 2011 After recent bicyclist-vehicle collisions that resulted in death and injuries in 2011, local authorities are asking vehicles to be on the lookout for bicyclists, and they’re telling bicyclists to take precautions to stay safe. Just as some residents in the Touchet Valley were watching the news about Hurricane Irene making landfall on the East Coast on Sunday, they were suddenly taken aback by a local weather event of their own. After late afternoon clouds gathered over Waitsburg, winds picked up out of nowhere a...
Ten Years Ago August 18, 2011 [Photo caption] Fire fighting trucks rush to the scene behind the Whetstone home of Steve and Joan McMunn, where a local farmer disked a larger buffer area to keep the flames at bay. The fire started half a mile to the west at the home of Dave and Joyce Koschmeder. Local fire fighting officials said several area farmers helped them keep the fire from damaging two homes. [Headline] “One of the Best Years” Despite numerous challenges, 2011 yields and prices lift crop prospects in Touchet Valley. During patrols in...
Ten Years Ago August 11, 2011 Mead is wine made from honey instead of grapes. A new winery, Mace Meadworks, featuring the buzzing bee’s nectar in its wine is opening on Main Street in Dayton soon. [Photo caption] Waitsburg resident Gary Hofer and a bronze statue of his great grandfather, Sen. George Norris, in McCook Nebraska. Norris, whose efforts were instrumental in pushing through the Rural Electrification Act 75 years ago, was born 150 years ago himself. Before William Shakespeare became a well-known playwright, he was an actor with P...
Ten Years Ago August 4, 2011 Former Waitsburg resident Adam Hermanns, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to armed robbery and residential burglary, was sentenced to 13 ½ years in prison, the maximum term possible under state sentencing guidelines. Jillian Beaudry, an editor and reporter for the Daily World in Aberdeen, Wash, will become the new managing editor for the Times based in Waitsburg, the newspaper’s publisher announced Monday. She will replace Dian McClurg, the previous managing editor who left the paper in May. Celebrate the gr...
Ten Years Ago July 21, 2011 2011 Harvest Issue: Better late than never Delayed by a cold, wet spring, growers look forward to good yields from wheat, peas, and garbanzo harvests. [Photo caption] Fear factor: Susan Hosticka of Dayton is covered by honeybees during a beekeepers’ field day at Washington State University. This “bee beard” didn’t cause her a single sting. Dayton’s Liberty Theater is bringing Buck, an award-winning documentary, to its screen this Friday. The film follows real life “horse whisperer” Buck Brannanman on his life jour...
Ten Years Ago July 7, 2011 [Photo caption] Alex the Clown rides atop the elephants during Thursday evening’s show of the Carson & Barnes circus on the outskirts of Dayton. When Imbert Matthee bought the Times in fall of 2009, the Dutch immigrant was as excited about owning two Main Street buildings as he was about having his own newspaper after a long career as a daily news reporter, editor and columnist. Coffee and an occasional French-syle pastry being his favorite and only breakfast, Matthee said he can’t wait for Coppei Coffee’s door to op...
Ten Years Ago June 30, 2011 Farmers in the Touchet Valley are predicting their harvest this year will be at least a week later than usual with fields in the Prescott and Waitsburg areas ready by the third week of July and in Dayton by early August. [Photo caption] Jennifer Flemming, visiting her mother Jacci Wooten for the weekend, cozies up to an Elvis impersonator from Walla Walla at the season’s first farmers’ market Saturday. Art enthusiasts from across the Touchet Valley visited the historic Boldman House on a sunny but breezy Sat...
Ten Years Ago May 26, 2011 Amidst concerns over the spread of a highly contagious equine virus in the region, Dayton Days organizers Tuesday night decided to cancel two days of Pro West rodeo this weekend. The Dayton Days parade, though horseless, will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, as will the Queen’s Coronation dinner on Friday and the Queen’s luncheon after the parade. It’s not every day Chandra Richardson and Caitlin Riley get to beat up their principal. But Andy Maheras actually welcomes their screams, kicks and punches because it’s...
